Alright seriously guys, if you haven't read Coming Down yet, you really need to before reading from this chapter on! If you decide to read further on without reading the first story, you will me mighty confused with all of the later drama that for sure ensue. Characters from Coming Down will be coming back and the characters will be speaking about the happenings in Coming Down. So, you have been warned!
Proceed! :D
Time
Part 1: Long Enough
Chapter 2
Brick stared down at her, taking in her figure. He marveled at how much time could change a person. Her face thinned out into a more mature shape. Her curves dipped along her waist and down to her moderately sized thighs. Her chest…her chest… man, did she look good in that dress! No, no he couldn't think about her that way. They hadn't seen each other for five years, and he was already imagining her naked in his bed. Damn it.
"Hey," he began. Blossom stared into his eyes.
"Hi," she squeaked. He boldly reached for her jacket and played with the golden zipper. Blossom realized their closeness in that split second. She could feel his warmth on her very skin. His breath spread along her face. The way he towered over her was exciting to say the least. Vincent was tall, but not Brick tall. He leaned down and breathed in her ear.
"So, do I get a hug or not?" he whispered. Blossom gasped slightly and stared up at his face as he backed away with a warm smile. Blossom giggled and smiled back.
"I suppose so." Brick chuckled and moved his arms around her waist, pulling her in. Blossom wrapped her arms up around his broad shoulders and hugged him back. Brick squeezed her small body gently, taking her all in. He missed her so much.
It seemed like an eternity before they let each other go. Blossom smiled up at him and looked deeply into his blood red eyes. She knew he was top dog in his squad. With those incredible eyes, no one would want to mess with him.
"I…I guess we should head back to the cars. Don't want Bubbles' special dinner to get cold." Brick nodded. He bravely moved his hand to her face and caressed her red cheek with his thumb.
"Yeah, I guess we should." Blossom was sure she was going to explode in ecstasy if he kept touching her like that. She grabbed his hand and moved it away from her cheek. She kept his hand in hers and pulled him along to the exit of the airport.
Once the two made it to the rest of the family, all eyes were on them. Blossom gulped and cast her gaze down. Bubbles and Buttercup knew something was up. The two redheads stopped by the others in silence. She quickly withdrew her hand from Brick's. Blossom grew agitated by the staring eyes.
"Are we going or not?" The group suddenly broke out into nervous chatter and quickly moved to their respective cars. Butch offered to have Brick ride with him, Boomer, and Buttercup. With one final stare at Blossom, he agreed.
"Come on, Bloss. You're still riding with me." Bubbles pulled her flustered sister towards the truck and opened the passenger door for her. Blossom climbed in and waited for Bubbles to start the car. Once she did, Bubbles honked her horn once to get everyone else to follow. Soon, the group was on the road back to the blonde's house.
"Okay, spill!" Bubbles said after five minutes of silence. Blossom sighed. She knew she couldn't hold out on her sister for too long.
"Nothing happened…" she said plainly.
Yeah, right, Blossom. Who are you trying to convince: Bubbles or yourself?
"Bullshit! If nothing happened, you wouldn't look the way you do right now."
"Fine! You wanna know what happened?" Blossom glared at her sister. Bubbles nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "He…well, he really just hugged me."
"But?" Bubbles could tell there was more.
"But…it was how he did it. At first, he stood very close to me and started playing with my zipper. I could just feel him. All that he is. All that he was. The heat that was radiating off of him. I could feel it all. Mmm, it was such a good hug. I know that sounds childish and cheesy, but it was a really, really great hug." Bubbles smirked with a giggle.
"And you say you don't secretly like him. You are such a bad liar, Bloss. You should ask BC for some pointers." Blossom glared at the blonde.
"I don't like him, damnit! It's just… it's just…" Bubbles shushed her.
"It's okay, Bloss. I get it." The two sat silently for a while before Blossom spoke once more.
"Don't mention it to Vincent, okay?" Bubbles smiled and placed a loving hand over Blossom's.
"You got it."
[Break]
"Bubbles, hurry up! We're starving in here!" Buttercup yelled out into the hallway for her sister.
"Hold your fucking horses! I'm coming, goddamnit!" Bubbles yelled back.
The group all piled into the blonde's house once they got there and entered the beautifully put together dining room. The large wooden table was covered by a dark, ocean blue tablecloth, and a large candle stand stood lit right in the middle. The curtains were drawn, and the dark room was dimly lit by the small lights on the ceiling. The boys and Rachel all sat on one side while the girls sat on the other. The Professor took one head of the table as Mojo took the other. Soon, Bubbles entered the room with the steaming baked chicken in her hands. She set the chicken down on the table and brushed her hands together.
"Well, it's finished! I hope you all love it because it took me hours to prepare." Bubbles plopped down in her chair next to Buttercup.
"Everything looks wonderful, sweetheart," Professor complimented. Bubbles smiled brightly before giving the signal.
"Well, go on. Everyone dig in!" The family all began to scoop all kinds of foods onto their plates. Blossom smiled to herself when she saw Brick with a mountain of pretty much everything on his plate. She then noticed his brothers who all had the same food mountain on their plates.
They sure are siblings, she thought to herself.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed on the table. Blossom picked it up and saw that Vincent was trying to call her. She swiped the green phone icon and lifted the phone to her ear.
"Hey, where are you? You told me not to get you, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, babe. I just needed some extra time to get ready. I'm outside, by the way, if you wanna let me in."
"Okay, hold on, I'm on my way." Blossom hung up her phone and excused herself.
"Where are you going?" Bubbles asked.
"To let Vincent in." Blossom trotted out of the dining room to the front door. Brick glanced at Bubbles.
"Who's Vincent?" The whole table stopped and stared at the redhead before looking at one another. Bubbles swallowed nervously and set down her fork.
"Uh, well-" Bubbles was suddenly interrupted by the two standing at the dining room archway.
"Hey all!" Vincent waved at the group. They all waved back with nervous smiles. Buttercup smirked and leaned towards Bubbles.
"Ohohoho, the drama tonight is going to be epic!" Bubbles rolled her eyes.
"Shut up," she looked back at Vincent. "Hey, Vince! Uh, we saved you a seat right next to Bloss. Oh, and this is Brick, and Brick, this is Vincent…Blossom's boyfriend." Brick made a sharp gurgling sound as he choked slightly on the wine he was drinking. He composed himself before setting the glass back down. He wiped the liquid from his mouth with the cloth napkin and stood up with a large, over the top smile plastered on his face. He stuck out his broad hand across the table.
"I'm Brick, Brick Cromwell. Nice to meet you." Vincent smiled up at the man and took his hand with a friendly shake.
"Ah, so you're the famous Brick I've been hearing about. Good on you for joining the military, man. That takes some serious balls." Brick grinned, letting go of his hand.
"You don't seem like the type to be very familiar with having any." Brick's grin never left his face.
"Brick," Blossom warned, scrunching up her face. Brick shrugged and sat back down. His brothers tried their best to cover up their snickers. Vincent glanced at Blossom. The redhead smiled nervously up at him before pulling him to the seat next to her.
Dinner went by as smoothly as Bubbles hoped. Of course, Brick almost always got a dig in whenever Vincent said something about himself or about Blossom. Bubbles could see the anger and envy stabbing their way throughout his deep, blood red eyes. She felt sorry for him. She could only imagine what it felt like to come home to the one you love and to see them with someone else. She was all too familiar with that type of pain.
After dinner, the group moved to the backyard. Bubbles prepared a nice fire and pulled up some plush chairs so everyone could sit. Blossom and Vincent sat in a loveseat next to the blazing flames. Brick scoffed and moved to the other side of the fire and sat down, crossing his large arms. Blossom felt a stab in her chest. She needed to talk to him and soon.
As the others were talking, Butch and Buttercup decided to lay on a large blanket on the ground away from the others. They lay side by side, looking up at the twinkling stars and the full, bright moon. Buttercup turned on her side to glance at him.
"Butch, are we ever going to make this official? I mean, we've already spilled the beans to our siblings. Don't you think it's time?" Butch stared down at her.
"Are you ready to take that step?" Buttercup nodded.
"Look at how long we've been committed to each other. We've been together longer than most married couples, I bet! I think we should take this step." Butch looked deep into her eyes.
First, they were just fuck buddies. They had sex whenever they got an itch to see each other. Butch wasn't one for relationships, but he loved this woman. Oh, how he loved her. During their senior year, he tried to convince himself that he didn't love her. He didn't love anyone. He was Butch Cromwell: hard on the outside and on the inside. But something in Buttercup changed that. After that, it wasn't just sex anymore. They made love to each other. He wanted to satisfy her more than himself. Afterwards, he would pull her into his arms as they fell into a deep sleep. It scared him shitless at first, but then he felt himself falling. He fell, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Butch smirked and lifted himself on his side, his elbow supporting him. He moved his hand down to her cheek and caressed the soft flesh. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly on her pink lips. Buttercup grabbed his neck to deepen the kiss. They pulled away with a sharp smack and stared into each other's eyes.
"I love you," Butch whispered. "I want to spend as much time with you as I can. I'm willing to take that step with you. I always have been." He leaned his forehead onto hers. Buttercup smiled.
"I love you, too. But I think you've always known that." Butch planted one last kiss on her lips before laying back down. Buttercup snuggled to his chest as he put his arms around her.
"So, I guess this makes you Mrs. Butch Cromwell now." Buttercup laughed outright.
"We're not that official, Butch!" The green Rowdyruff smirked with a chuckle.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I have my own place and a devastatingly empty bed. If we hurry, we could heat it up a bit." Butch chuckled.
"I like the way you think, kitten." The two quickly pulled themselves off of the ground and straightened out their clothing. They walked hand in hand to the fire.
"Hey guys, come to join us?" Bubbles asked, sticking another marshmallow in her mouth.
"Actually, we just wanted to tell you thanks for inviting us, and we'll see you all later," Buttercup explained.
"You two are leaving already?" Blossom asked.
"Yeah, we're getting kind of tired," Butch said with a shrug. Brick scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, right. You two just want to get home so you can ride the carnal carousel with each other." Buttercup could feel her face heat up. Professor cleared his throat rather loudly.
"I'd rather not think of my daughter on that particular carousel, if you don't mind." Buttercup rolled her eyes and pulled Butch out towards the front.
"Goodbye!" The rest of the group waved back. Silence befell them awkwardly before Bubbles pulled out a large bag of marshmallows.
"Anyone want a s'more?"
Three weeks passed since Brick's arrival back in Townsville. Boomer agreed to let him stay at his place until Brick found a nice place of his own. The two got along for the most part. Brick was flattered that his very eager brother wanted to hear all about his "war stories." But, sometimes, Boomer would have to sit down and hear a giant, raging rant on the pink Powerpuff and her current squeeze. Brick went off on how Vincent wasn't good for her, and how he's just using her to stay on the super heroine's good side. Brick even said that Vincent only liked the media attention and didn't love Blossom at all! Boomer loved his brother, but, sometimes, he just wanted to use his electrokinesis to make Brick's head explode.
Blossom, on the other hand, was calling up her blonde sister day in and day out for three weeks straight to rave on about her oh-so-confusing feelings for her counterpart. Bubbles even got to the point of turning off the sound on her phone as soon as she saw Blossom's face pop up onto her screen. If Blossom was acting like that, she only wondered how Boomer was dealing with Brick. They needed to get the two redheads to talk to each other and fast.
Amongst all of the mayhem that the two redheads were causing for Bubbles and Boomer, Buttercup had her own battles to fight. One cloudy morning, Buttercup woke up with a sudden revelation. She noticed how sick she has been getting for the past few days and began to think the worst had happened. She decided to fly to the nearest drugstore and to pick up a small package that held something she never thought she would buy. Once she got back home, she flew back to her apartment and into her bathroom. She closed the door and opened the small paper bag that held the box. She tore it open and read the instructions quickly before following them. She found it rather gross that she actually had to pee on the plastic stick to find out very vital information about her current state. She decided to suck it up and do it. Once she finished, she pulled her leggings back up and set the stick on the counter. The timer on her phone beeped. She picked up the stick and held it up to her face.
"...Oh, God…"
Blossom's phone rang once, then twice, before she sleepily rolled over in bed and picked it up. She glanced at the clock which read 7:30. She huffed and tapped the green icon. Vincent snored rather loudly next to her. Blossom made sure to keep her voice low.
"Hello," she answered, her voice deep and groggy.
"Come over," Buttercup commanded frantically. Blossom scrunched up her eyebrows.
"Why are you demanding that I come over at seven in the goddamn morning? Why are you even up? You love to sleep in when you don't have work."
"Come over, Bloss! I need you! Please come over!" Blossom knew that Buttercup wasn't the panicking type. She was always cool and calm when things got sticky, especially during monster or crime fighting. But, this time, Buttercup actually sounded like she was in distress.
"Alright, I'll be over in five." Buttercup sighed in relief.
"Okay, thanks." Blossom reassured her that it was no problem before quickly washing up before dressing herself in a pair of joggers and a pink t-shirt. She grabbed her jacket and quietly exited the room. She trotted down the stairs and grabbed the pile of sticky notes from the top of the fridge. She wrote a short note for Vincent and stuck it on the fridge. She grabbed her keys and ran out the door. She locked the door behind her and took off into the sky with a bubblegum pink streak behind her.
Buttercup paced back and forth in her living room, biting her thumb. A sharp whine came from her couch.
"Can it, Psylocke! I know you wanna go for a walk, just give me a minute, okay?" The sleek, black German Shepherd whined again and set down the electric green leash. Buttercup sighed and kneeled down to pet the dog on her head. "Well, you might get a new baby brother or sister soon, so chin up, girl." Suddenly, a loud knock came from her door. Buttercup kissed the dog on her head before moving to the entrance way to open the door. She unlocked it and opened it up for her sister.
"Are you okay, BC? You sounded upset on the phone." Blossom stepped inside and removed her sweater. She grabbed a hanger from the closet and placed her sweater on it. Buttercup sighed.
"I'm okay… well, not really. I have to show you something." Blossom kicked off her shoes and placed her hands on her hips.
"What's wrong?" Buttercup huffed and grabbed her sister's hand. She pulled Blossom down the apartment hallway and into her room. She let go of Blossom's hand and went into the bathroom. She grabbed the stick and hid it behind her back before walking up to Blossom once more. Her eyes pricked with the inflow of tears threatening to spill over. Blossom frowned with concern. Buttercup never cried. "Hey, what is it? Are you okay?" Buttercup sniffed before holding out the stick to Blossom. Blossom took it and gasped once she noticed what it was. "Oh… Oh, Buttercup…" The raven head couldn't help but let her tears spill over. Blossom set down the stick and pulled her sister into her arms. Buttercup sniffed as she buried her face into Blossom's shoulder.
"This is such bullshit, Blossom! I can't believe this! I'm not ready to be a mother! I'm not even sure if I ever will be!" Blossom shushed her as she stroked her short hair.
"You do know you have the option to get an abortion. I won't look at you any differently. It's your choice. No one is forcing you to have this baby. If you're not ready, then you're not ready." Buttercup huffed as she pulled away.
"I know. I don't know what to do. I'll think about it, though." Blossom smoothed Buttercup's hair.
"It's Butch's, isn't it?"
"Of course it's Butch's! The hell do you think I am? I'm not some harlot who goes out and sleeps with random guys while I'm in a fucking relationship!" Blossom lifted up her hands.
"Alright, alright, just wanted to make sure. Did you two have unprotected sex at all?"
"Well, I mean, I am on the pill…"
"So you didn't use a condom?" Buttercup's face turned beet red.
"...No." Blossom rolled her eyes.
"Well, did you take it at the same time every day?" Buttercup lowered her head, trying to make her bangs cover her guilty face.
"...No."
"Buttercup! You wonder why you're pregnant, and you say you didn't wear a condom or take your pills when you should? You should know better than that!"
"Yeah, I know. But, he was just being so gentle, so romantic, so sensual-" Blossom lifted up her hand.
"Sweet Jesus, I don't need the details!"
"Sorry. But I was just so caught up in the moment. We bother were. I wasn't thinking." Buttercup slumped down to sit on her bed. Blossom sat next to her.
"Does "Daddy Dearest" know that he's a father yet?" The green Powerpuff rubbed her forehead.
"No. You're the first person I've told. Bubbles doesn't even know yet. I should tell her soon." Blossom sighed. Sometimes she wished her sister was smarter than this. It would make life a whole lot easier for her.
"You're going to have to tell him eventually, Buttercup. If you do decide to keep it, you are going to start putting on weight, and he's going to notice."
"Yeah, I know. I just don't want to tell him yet. I don't even know if I want to keep it or not. I just need some time to think this all through. Just… don't tell anyone, okay? Not Bubbles, not dad, no one can know just yet. Promise me you'll keep this to yourself." Blossom was torn. She knew it was the right thing to do to tell the others, but she also knew that it was right to keep this promise to her sister. It was what sisters did. She sighed, ready to hold onto this very life-changing information.
"Alright, fine. I promise to you that I won't tell anyone. Not Bubbles, not dad, no one." Buttercup sighed in relief and grabbed Blossom's hand.
"Thanks, Bloss. I really appreciate it, really." Blossom gave a slight smile. She knew that keeping this from the rest of the group will potentially create problems, but Buttercup had enough to deal with at the moment.
"You're welcome. Just… give yourself time to think about your options, okay? Can you promise me that?" Buttercup nodded.
"Sure thing, Bloss. I definitely will."
"BUT I KEEP CRUUUISIN', CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP GROOOVIN'! IT'S LIKE I'VE GOT THIS MUUUSIIIIIC IN MY MIND, SAYIN' IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!" Bubbles sung at the top of her lungs as the steaming water fell from the showerhead. The speakers from her phone blared loudly, echoing throughout the bathroom. Suddenly, her phone rang sharply. Bubbles quieted herself and opened the shower door. She paused the music and held it up to her ear.
"Hey, Bubs." Boomer's voice tiredly sounded from the other end.
"Hey, Boomer. You sound pretty tired. What's up?" Boomer sighed deeply. Bubbles could hear his brothers speaking loudly in the background.
"Brick is going off the deep end. This whole thing with Vince and Blossom is really getting to him. I don't know if I can take it anymore! Every day, every single day, Vincent this, Vincent that, fuck Vincent, fuck 'em! That's all I goddamn hear, and it's messing with my head!" Bubbles giggled slightly. Hearing Boomer sound like a damsel in distress was quite amusing. "Butch is here trying to calm him down, but I don't think he's helping. He's actually making it worse. Please do something!"
"Unless you want me to come to your house wet and naked, I don't think I can help you right now, Boomer." Boomer whined like a child.
"Wait, did you say wet and naked?" Bubbles rolled her eyes.
"Off topic." Boomer chuckled.
"We really need to get these two fiery redheads together so they can talk about their problems instead of venting almost every day to the rest of us."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Blossom has been giving me quite the headache lately."
"Well, I've been thinking-" A sharp static sound blared from the phone. Bubbles scrunched up her face and looked at the screen. She held it back to her ear.
"Boomer? Hello?"
"-Of course, that might be a bad idea since-" Static. Bubbles pulled the phone away once more. She clicked on an icon and put Boomer on speaker.
"Boomer? Are you…"
"Hello, Bubbles." Bubbles backed away slightly from the counter.
"B-Boomer?"
"Not even close." She knew that voice. Where did she know that voice? It was thick and deep behind the background static.
"Who are you? What is this?"
"It's been so long. How've you been? I'm sure you miss me dearly," the deep voice drawled eerily. Bubbles could feel her heart thump harshly in her chest. She knew that voice! Why was it so hard to place it?
"I know you…" The deep voice chuckled darkly.
"Of course you do. Don't you remember? You threw me across your living room into a wall our junior year of high school." Her eyes widened.
"...Jessie…" Bubbles could hear the grin on his face.
"You seem to have grown out of your dumb blonde stage, Bubbles, good for you!" Bubbles glared at her phone.
"I thought you went missing. Boomer told all of us that no one could find you. Where are you?" Jessie chuckled.
"Some try to hide, some try to cheat. Others play chess and others weep-
Regardless though of your trip, whether you are weeping or you cheat,
time will show we'll always meet, and then you' d know who to greet..."
"What does that mean?" The static grew louder and louder. The piercing screech from her phone caused the blonde to cover her ears tightly. Then silence. The sound completely cut out. All the sound that was left was the stream of water coming from the shower.
"-I think I should go now since Brick currently has poor Butch in a headlock, choking him out. So, I'll talk to you later. Think about my plan, okay?" Bubbles stared at the phone. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even think clearly. Every single question regarding Jessie flew through her mind a mile a minute. "Bubbles? You still there?" The Powerpuff blinked coming to her senses once more.
"Uh, yeah, I'll… I'll think about your plan." Boomer could hear something off in her voice.
"You okay?" he asked, frowning in worry.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'll let you go break up whatever Brick is doing to Butch. I'll see you later, okay?" Boomer wasn't convinced. He'd question her another time.
"Alright, bye." Bubbles was alone once more.
Jessie was back. Or at least, Bubbles thought he was. He was alive. Alive and somewhere out in the world, relishing in not being found. His voice held so much malice towards her. Wherever he was, he would cause as much trouble as he could without even showing his face. Bubbles swallowed sharply. She needed to tell someone. If she didn't, who knew what would happen?
The blonde put back on her music and stepped into the warm shower, suddenly realizing how cold she was. Another upbeat song played cheerfully through the speakers. Bubbles, however, didn't feel like singing anymore.
Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter for Time, I hope you all liked it!
SHOUT OUT TO MY BETA, STRANIQUEGIRL0684!
She has been the best Beta I could've asked for. She has helped me with most if not all of my dialogue and even my other story on Fictionpress. She gives great ideas and if any of you need help, hit her up!
Anyway, Overworld will be continuing! I just have to find a good time to write on it again. School is very busy so be patient with me. So, watch out for that.
That's about it! Hope you all like!
Bye Guys!
~TheRedWolf
